Vince hated mariachi music.

It was the bane of his existence as a Texan. Every olive skinned man with an ounce of latin American in their blood and a trumpet thought they were a mariachi star. Or so it would seem. He couldn’t escape them at malls, at nice restaurants, weddings, or sometimes even school if someone was playing a particularly nasty prank. Despite all of that, for just one moment, it was matched with the ringing laughter of Rayleigh Ashton, and it was music to his ears.

Without realizing it, his own laugh had risen from his lip joining hers as he slid effortlessly around the table, pulling his seat with him as he arrived sitting next to her. “I won’t not tell you about Earth, but which would you rather about more? Earth? Or why we’re here?” He asked as he coyly took a sip of his mojito.

‘Holy shit that’s good.’

“Well I’d love to hear about both, but let’s start with the important bit first?” Ray asked, her green eyes shining with mirth as she seemed to be calming down from the entire escapade. Vincent nodded, suddenly adopting a very serious facial expression as he took another sip of his fruity drink, glancing around with apparent purpose, eyeing up any nearby staff and patrons with “distrust.” Finally his eyes seemed to find what they were looking for and he motioned for the mechanic to lean in closely. As she did so, he took her free hand lovingly and swept her hair behind her ear and began a show of “lovingly” whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

“Third rafter away from our table, right above the couple that needs to get a room, do you see it?” The mechanics eyes darted quickly to the rafter above the smooching couple to find a small statue of a rather jolly otter hanging from the rafter.

“The otter?” she asked breaking away to look at him. “We’re here for an-“ Vince shushed her by gently placing a finger on her lips.

“No, we’re not here for an otter. I have enough issues with a particular one already. Look closer.” Ray shot him a dirty look but played along, squinting as she focused on the particularly gaudy piece of décor only to discover it seemed to be glowing faintly.

“Why is it glowing,” she asked snatching Vincent’s hand from her face and taking it in her own, playing along with the ruse.

“It seems this entire island is rigged with a series of statues that are enchanted to control the weather.” Vince replied shooting her a grin. “They keep the workings of their system and their enchantment of choice of a secret but…” Vince squinted slightly as if he was suspicious. “I get the feeling they’ve modeled their system off of a very ancient text that just happens to be missing from our library.”

“You think they stole from the Tarot?” Ray asked looking worried.

“Exactly. The works of that tome were sealed away for a reason, in the wrong hands they could be used to cause absolute chaos. We need to observe how the system works, how it’s powered, and determine if it’s just a coincidence or not.”

“That seems like a tall order…” the mechanic replied shaking her head.

“That’s why I brought my best operative with me.” Vince replied flicking her ear slightly. “Cheer up, it’s a lot easier than it looks. I’ll give you more detailed instructions tonight in our room.”

“Chips for the love birds?” Announced another equally as tan waitress as she set down a massive wicker bowl filled to the brim with tortilla chips and two small bowls of red and green sauce.

“Thanks.” Vincent replied freeing one of his hands from Rayleigh’s. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a gold coin, which he proceeded to flick with unusual skill into the waitress’s waiting hand.

“Thank you sir, your food will be out shortly.” She curtsied slightly and backed away, “Enjoy.”

A silence hung in the air for a moment, before something dawned of Rayleigh.

“Did you say our room?” she asked turning to him. “As in…singular?” Vincent’s face quickly became an impenetrable mask, not betraying a single expression.

“Mhmmm.”

“As in one bed, singular?” A new wave of annoyance was beginning to wash over her face as suddenly all of the implications of their ruse were beginning to dawn on her once more.

“Relax, I’m sleeping on the floor.” The scholar turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “I would never do anything improper to jeopardize the mission.” That was the key. Keep her focused on the mission, and everything else would go smoothly. He’d been lucky he’d been able to find something so simple to pawn her interest off on. So far he wasn’t lying, much. He might even manage to get all the way through this ruse without it collapsing on him, but he had to play it safe.